By Bisola Bello
Porsche has responded to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the late Paul Walker’s daughter Meadow, blaming reckless driving and excessive speeding for the crash that killed the Fast & Furious actor.
Meadow Walker filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the German car company in Los Angeles on Monday.
The 16-year-old claimed in the complaint that the car maker had skimped on safety features which could have either prevented the crash or at least kept the Fast and Furious actor alive.
However, rep for Porsche told CNN: “As we have said before, we are saddened whenever anyone is hurt in a Porsche vehicle, but we believe the authorities’ reports in this case clearly established that this tragic crash resulted from reckless driving and excessive speed.”
Porsche, however, admitted that it has yet to review the lawsuit and would not comment on specifics relating to the case.
Paul Walker was a passenger in the 2005 Porsche Carrera GT driven by friend and pro racer, Roger Rodas, when it careened into a power pole and burst into flames in Santa Clarita, north-west of Los Angeles, killing both men in November 2013.
The suit said Porsche AG knew the car model had a “history of instability and control issues” and that the seat belts were designed such that in a crash the shoulder belt anchor would be pulled along with the rear engine compartment while the seat anchor would remain in place.
“This snapped Walker’s torso back with thousands of pounds of force, thereby breaking his ribs and pelvis, flattening his seat and trapping him in a supine position, where he remained alive until the vehicle erupted into flames one minute and 20 seconds later, absent these defects in the Porsche Carrera GT, Paul Walker would be alive today,” the filling reads.
Rodas’ widow filed a similar suit in 2014 but Porsche said the crash was his fault, rather than down to design flaws.
Attorneys for the company had then denied that the car had any defects.
Walker’s death at the age of 40 led to a temporary halt in production of Fast & Furious 7, the latest movie in the successful series about illegal street racing that helped popularise his career.
